


GONE - NCT Dream

by asahisorareoyuuto



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Gen, Horror, Slow To Update
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-04-17 08:52:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 12,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14185347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asahisorareoyuuto/pseuds/asahisorareoyuuto
Summary: nct dream aren't the only ones missing. all traces of their existence have been wiped out to everyone-except for five other nct members.COMPANION TO SLAUGHTER SCHOOL.started: March 28th, 2018; ended: ???⚠ CONTAINS STRONG UNCENSORED LANGUAGE, GRAPHIC VIOLENCE, AND TRIGGERING/SENSITIVE TOPICS. Viewer discretion is advised. ⚠copyright © Tsujita Seika, 2018





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> From Wattpad! Please read at the same time as Slaughter School.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are two types of chapters in these books.
> 
> One-Normal Chapters: These focus on the main 5 members as well as the rest of NCT 2018, minus NCT Dream. You can tell which ones they are because they have a number next to them in word-format and the name of the 3rd person POV they focus on the most. They are essential to the plot and must be read. Tne prologue is a normal chapter. Ex: One: Taeyong (which is next chappie!)
> 
> Two-Dream Chapters: These focus on each individual member of NCT Dream, from oldest to youngest after every two normal chapters. You can tell which ones they are because they don't have the word-format number. They may provide hints about where NCT Dream is. THEY ARE NOT STAND-ALONE CHAPTERS, YOU MUST READ IN ORDER. It will just be their name. Ex: Mark (two chapters down the list!)
> 
> If you don't want any idea where NCT Dream is at all, you can skip the Dream chapters, though I HIGHLY recommend you read them...

"What the hell is going on?" Renjun cautiously ran his hand alongside the walls, worry in his tone.

"I'm scared..." Chenle held onto Jisung's arm tightly, who in turn was holding onto Jeno's arm. "I want to get out of here..."

"Don't worry," Jaemin replied, though his voice said otherwise. "We're going to be okay."

Unlike the rest, Mark was calmer than the others. He was thinking of multiple ways they could get out of this mess, but alongside those came a lot of other ways that they could either get lost or even-hell, he was not going to delve into that. Quickly, he glanced at Haechan to see how he was faring.

Haechan looked deathly pale. His eyes were wide and he stared into space as if Mark weren't right in front of him. Renjun and Jeno also seemed to notice and turned around. "Is he okay?"

"Haechan? HAECHAN? LEE DONGHYUCK!?" Jisung waved his hand up and down in front of Haechan's face, trying to get him to blink, react, anything.

Haechan remained silent for another moment.

Then he screamed.

It was a loud, piercing scream, one that made Jisung jump in fright, Mark back away quickly, Chenle also scream (which nearly overwhelmed Haechan's scream), and Jaemin, Jeno, and Renjun to stumble over each other. Haechan's mouth was wide open, and inside seemed to be some sort of black smoke, floating around.

Then the floor opened.

Haechan fell into the darkness, his scream still echoing. Almost immediately Mark shined his flashlight down the new hole. All there was was black. Chenle stopped screaming and quickly backed away from the hole. That was his mistake.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Chenle's inhuman and extremely-loud scream faded away as he tripped over a thin trip-wire, triggering the floor to open up beneath him and drop him into the darkness below. In less than two seconds, he was gone.

"CHENLE! HAECHAN!" Jeno wrestled himself away from Renjun's grasp and bent down near the hole where Chenle had just disappeared in. Just like Haechan's hole, all there was down there was black. He whirled his head around and came to a realization. Before he could say anything, however, Jaemin said it for him.

"We're trapped."

Renjun and the others didn't understand until they saw what separated them. The two holes connected together and were so large that it left the rest of them stranded on a small perch of land. Even if they tried to jump, the chances of them making it to the other side were low. Jaemin and Renjun were close together. Mark and Jisung were nearby, trying to find a way out of their mess. Jeno was still in shock, staring down into the hole.

"Jeno, back away! We need to stay close," Mark said. When he saw that Jeno wasn't reacting, he became worried. "JENO! Come on!"

Almost as if he were a ball, he rolled forward silently, falling straight into the same hole as Chenle. Right when he did so, the little land that the other four were standing on began to shake. Everyone immediately backed away from the edge to find that it was falling away. About a foot's-width of it dissolved into the shadows below. Everyone was in the middle, glancing this and that way, scared out of their lives.

"Everyone's just falling into random holes, screaming the hell out of their lives. I swear, everyone's slowly getting possessed!" Jisung grabbed Jaemin's arm instinctively.

"Not Chenle..." Mark was in deep thought. "He was screaming out of plain fear, not because he was possessed."

"But what if he was?" Renjun didn't want to think about it. "What if we all are? How do we know none of us are lying?"

"There's no way..." Jaemin stepped away from the small crowd and immediately tripped over his own foot. "Shit!"

"Jaemin!" Renjun and Mark tried to pull him up, but it was too late. Grasping too tightly onto Renjun's arm, he descended into the abyss, pulling Renjun along with him. Mark had accidentally let go of Renjun before they fell, so he was safe. Renjun and Jaemin were yelling cuss words at each other the whole way down. The ground was quickly falling away and Jisung and Mark had to get in the way of personal space just to fit on the small amount of ground that was left.

"Shit. Shit." Jisung was freaking out both physically and mentally. "What can we do!? We're stranded on this little island thing where we can't jump to the other side. Are we just going to stand here till morning!?"

"If that's what we have to do," Mark replied grimly. "We could also jump down there and get it over with, but I wouldn't do that if-Jisung?"

Jisung had become still, and Mark could feel it. "Oh hell no. Don't tell me-"

There was another scream, a "WELL FUCK!", and the rumbling sound of land disappearing as the final two boys collapsed into the silence.


	2. One: Taeyong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somewhere else, Taeyong awakes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I don't know how the NCT dormitories work and who lives in what (I've tried researching okay) so forgive me if people are in the wrong dorms (esp. since 127 and U share alot of the same members). I just made assumptions from looking at their K-Profiles and watching the NCT 2018 Weekly Idol episode (lol).

Taeyong's eyes shot open as he stared up into the white ceiling above. Something felt completely off. He didn't know what it was, but he was determined to find out. Throwing the sheets off of his body, he got down from the top bunk and immediately went to wash his hands before checking up on the other 127 members.

There was Taeil, Winwin, and Yuta together in the same room, peacefully sleeping. Johnny was sprawled out on the couch, the last one to fall asleep last night. Doyoung was in another room, and Jaehyun was out cold in another bunk. Confused, Taeyong whirled back around. _Did I miss somebody?_

__

__

That was when he realized.

He spotted that Doyoung was the closest person nearby. Rushing over, he shook him frantically, trying to get him to wake up. "Doyoung!"

"Wha-Taeyong!?" Doyoung, half asleep and half awake, lazily tried to push Taeyong's hands away. "What's the problem?"

"Mark's missing!"

"Chill, he's probably just eating breakfast or doing something with NCT U or Dream..."

"But we're both in NCT U and nothing's been going on. Besides, Mark normally alerts us when he takes his leave!"

Doyoung, coming to this realization, opened his eyes wide as he scrambled out of his bunk. "When was the last time you saw him?"

"Yesterday, when he left with the rest of Dream to go hang out or something like that. He hasn't returned since then. He was supposed to be back by around nine. Johnny went searching-"

Doyoung silenced his friend. "That's all I need for now. I'm going to ask Johnny." Without glancing at Taeyong, he began to shake Johnny awake. Taeyong sighed, mad that his friend wasn't taking this seriously. As he watched Johnny stir, he began to retrace the events that had happened the night before.

_Mark didn't return that night and everyone was starting to panic. The CEO didn't even care, which was the worst part. Then their manager returned saying he lost them, and everything became ten times more worse. We were ordered not to search for them and that the CEO will look for them. That, we knew, was a complete lie. Some of us snuck out to try and find them, but we couldn't go too far without attracting attention. I was busy cleaning up after their mess after they had ate dinner, so I didn't search with the others. I was the first to bed, and Johnny was the last one still searching-_ "Taeyong."

"Huh? Oh, what is it, Doyoung?"

"We have a big issue here."

"What?" Taeyong walked over to where Johnny was sitting on the couch, fully awake but still seemingly dazed. Doyoung was standing next to him, arms crossed. "Did you get anything out of him?"

"He's acting like Mark doesn't exist, and it's not funny. Tell him to stop." Doyoung was annoyed at Johnny, who stared at him innocently.

"Johnny, this is serious. Mark's missing, sure, but he's still alive. This isn't something to joke about." Taeyong glared at him.

"You guys keep talking about Mark this, Mark that, who even is Mark!?" Poor Johnny was exasperated. "Stop acting like I know anything about this Mark dude. Please stop!"

One glance at his eyes and you could immediately tell he was being truthful. Panic was starting to creep into Taeyong as looked at Doyoung, not knowing what to do.

"I'm going to ask this one last time, and then I'm throwing you out of here," Doyoung hissed. "Who and where is Mark?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Johnny put his head into his hands, about to cry. "I don't know anything...please don't kick me out..."

Doyoung sighed. "It's just one person. This has to be acting." He rolled his eyes before continuing. "For now, I won't push you out the door, but we'll have to see with the other members if this is all an act."

"Doyoung," Taeyong pleaded. "He's telling the truth; I can tell."

Doyoung softened at his words. "Alright; I won't throw him out. I'm still going to check up on the others; you coming?"

Taeyong nodded as they both entered Taeil, Winwin, and Yuta's room. All were just rising, looking around with tired eyes.

"Taeil, Winwin, Yuta," Doyoung began. "Mark's still missing. Any idea where he is?"

"Who?" Taeil was confused. "Who's Mark?"

"NOT YOU TOO!" Doyoung rubbed his temples in annoyance. "PLEASE STOP ACTING AND GET SERIOUS!"

"Wait, you don't know who Mark is?" Winwin glanced at Taeil with shock. "He's one of our members, he was in all of NCT's MVs...you know?"

"Show me," Taeil responded. "I don't remember..."

Yuta pulled up their latest MV, "Touch", and proceeded to show it to Taeil. In the beginning, Mark was supposed to be dancing in the center, so Yuta was confident that Taeil will break his act once he saw Mark.

"Huh? There's no one in the center in the beginning..." Taeil squinted at the screen as the MV played. "Wasn't Taeyong supposed to be there?"

"WHAT!?" Taeyong pushed Doyoung aside (rather rudely, I might add) and looked at the screen. Sure enough, Mark was missing from the front.

"Hold up. Let me find another one." Yuta pulled his phone away and began searching up "Limitless". He didn't need to show it to Taeil, though. Mark was clearly missing. Where his lines were supposed to be were only the instrumental. Winwin, Doyoung, and Taeyong noticed it too. What they failed to notice was that another 127 member was missing, but they didn't get far into the MV to see that member disappear.

"The hell?" Winwin looked to Taeil, who was minding his own business, back to the MV. "What happened to Mark?"

"Not just Mark," Taeyong reminded all of them (including himself). "All of NCT Dream."

"We have a third unit?" Taeil was starting to lose his mind. "We should only have two-127 and U..."

"Crap, 'Chewing Gum' is missing." Doyoung had been searching up the various NCT Dream MVs. "My First and Last", "We Young", and "GO" were also missing. After searching up multiple 127 and U MVs, it was also shown that both Mark and Haechan were missing. Haechan. _I never noticed that he was missing as well. He's roommates with Jaehyun, right? I guess I just automatically assumed that he was asleep somewhere else...but why? I don't think Taeil and Johnny remember who he is anyway... _"Taeyong?"__

____

____

Taeyong shook his head and turned to the group. "Get everyone in this dorm here. We need to talk. **Now."**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: The meeting yields a shocking discovery.


	3. Two: Doyoung

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doyoung, Taeyong, Yuta, and Winwin try to convince themselves that what is happening isn't real, but one member of NCT U shatters everything.

Doyoung watched as the rest began piling in. Along with Taeyong, Yuta, Winwin, Taeil, and himself already in the room, there was only Johnny and Jaehyun coming in. When everyone had assembled, Taeyong began speaking.

"Alright." He rubbed his hands together. "Raise your hand if you remember NCT Dream, Mark, and Haechan exist."

Doyoung threw his hand up immediately. Yuta slowly raised his hand up too, pulling up Winwin's as well. "You remember," Yuta said to him. Taeyong himself raised a hand. The remaining three kept their hands down.

"Jaehyun?" Doyoung turned to him. "You don't remember?"

"Remember who?" Jaehyun gave them all confused looks. "Taeil, do you remember any Mark or Haechan? Or a third sub-unit? We never had a third sub-unit..."

"That's what I'm trying to question them about..." Taeil glanced at Johnny, who shrugged. "I mean, the videos proved it, so..."

"That doesn't mean they don't exist!" Doyoung stood up in anger, but Taeyong put a hand on his friend's chest. "Doyoung," he whispered. "Please."

Doyoung sighed, sat back down, and began talking himself. "Winwin, you remember, right?"

Winwin nodded. "Mark was in all three sub-units. He was supposed to rap in Limitless and was the one in the purple boxes during the Touch MV. He was also in Yestoday with a headband around his hair, which he also dyes too many times. Yeah, I remember him, and so does Yuta."

Yuta nodded along, seemingly lost. Doyoung snapped his fingers, and Yuta blinked, coming to attention. "Who wants to check on NCT U?"

For a moment, no one responded.

Then there was a sudden knocking on the door. It was hard and resonated throughout the dorm. Judging from the speed of the tapping, it was clearly urgent. Taeyong and Doyoung jumped from where they were sitting and rushed to the door, the rest following. Taeyong violently ripped the door open to see Kun with a frightened expression on his face. Behind him was Ten, Jungwoo, and Lucas, all with blank eyes.

"Taeyong! Everyone! You have to make sure I'm not in the middle of a dream right now!" Kun's voice was so different-sounding that everyone had to make sure that they weren't speaking to the wrong person. "Lucas keeps saying that he has no idea who Chenle and Renjun are; he's acting as if they never existed! What happened to our China line!? The other two are also saying that they don't have a clue who they are...Please tell me I'm only dreaming..."

Doyoung, Taeyong, Winwin, and Yuta all looked at each other with a certainty in their facial expressions. This wasn't just a full-scale act, this was real. NCT Dream had disappeared, and everyone had completely forgotten who they were.

Everyone except for them four. Well, correction-five. Kun took one look at their faces and immediately knew. "This isn't a joke, is it? It's all real..."

Everyone slowly separated into two groups. One consisted of the five that remembered: Taeyong, Doyoung, Winwin, Yuta, and Kun. The other had the rest: Johnny, Taeil, Jungwoo, Lucas, Ten, and Jaehyun. The atmosphere had changed; there was a feeling of mistrust in the air. Everyone talked in hushed voices; the amount of trust between the groups were diminishing.

"Let's check their dorm next." Yuta suddenly had an idea. "If this is really true, then everything they had would be gone."

The five ran down to the dorm room. One look at the door and you could already tell there was nothing inside.

 _This makes no sense!_ Doyoung ran through multiple scenarios in his head. _What about their families? What about our CEO, about the rest of this world? Is this even a reality? Are we in some sort of dream that people always seemed to be in for so long it takes up a whole book and then disappoints the reader? No way, that's impossible._

__

__

"They're...gone." Winwin looked as if he were about to break down. He hugged Kun tightly, about to cry. "What happened to Chenle and Renjun!?" Kun was also about to cry, and Yuta desperately tried to join their hug. Doyoung and Taeyong were trying to keep their cool as best as they could. "It may not be over! We need to check with the CEO JUST to make sure."

\--------

"I give you a free day, and this is what happens? You five going nuts?" The CEO held his hands together as he all gave them a hard stare. "Boys, we do not have time for this chat. We don't pay attention to 'missing' boys that probably don't even exist."

That confirmed it.

The five left the room before all suddenly breaking down. Yuta hugged Winwin instinctively, crying. Winwin rubbed his back while tears streamed down his cheeks. Kun was full-on sobbing. Taeyong was panicking, and Doyoung was stunned. Everything was falling apart. Where did it all go wrong?

"We...we have to do something." Doyoung tried to shake off his stupor. "I...I refuse to believe they don't exist. We have to trace our steps, go back to where they were last time, investigate there. If no one else is going to do it, then I'll do it alone."

"You're not going down there alone," Taeyong hissed, latching onto his wrist. Doyoung turned to the other three, and they all gave a nod. Doyoung was grateful for the support as he looked back to the front doors of the SM Entertainment building. "Who remembers what happened last night?"

"They all went shopping at the mall," Taeyong said. "They were going to eat out, no doubt about that. They didn't come back in time though. The company lied to us about them searching for them. I don't know what else happened after that."

"We do." The Yuwin pair filled in Taeyong's missing bits. Winwin spoke first. "I snuck out the window and headed to where they were going to eat for dinner. Jeno had sent me a message saying that they had arrived there. That was the last time I heard from them. When I headed into the restaurant, I attracted a lot of attention and SM caught me before I could say anything else."

"You were lucky I was already there first," Yuta added on, glancing at Winwin. "The lady knew who they were back then, but she said even though they had made a reservation they had never arrived. That last message was fake."

"Are you saying they were kidnapped while shopping?" Kun was in disbelief. The three nodded.

"Do you remember which mall they were shopping at?" Doyoung pulled out his phone, ready to find a taxi as Taeyong pretended to stroke his chin.

"I think I do, but I don't remember the name."

"Then let's go on a city tour then."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: A mall-investigation begins.


	4. Mark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1/7 of the NCT Dream Chapters

_Lost in an inescapable reality, I close my eyes and hope that everything is all a dream._

__

__

三('ω')三( ε: )三(.ω.)三( :3 )三('ω')三( ε: )三(.ω.)三( :3 )

"Renjun? Haechan? Jeno? Jisung? Chenle? Jaemin? Anybody!?" Mark called out into the darkness. There was no light, and he was completely blinded. His voice continously echoed, coming back toward him. He could move around freely, but he had no idea where he had ended up.

"This one's finally awake," a voice echoed from far away. Its footsteps were getting closer, and Mark was trying to back away. He hit a wall harshly, grabbing his shoulder in the pain, and closed his eyes, praying.

"Hey. I'm not going to kill you. You need to trust me here. You've fallen through a crack of reality." The voice was clearly male, unidentifiable but familiar all at the same time. Mark wanted to feel in safe hands, to be okay, well, but...he couldn't.

"A-A crack of reality? What do you mean?" Mark put his arms in front of himself despite knowing that even if he tried to defend himself, he wouldn't land a single target. "Where are my friends!? I want to go back home!"

For a second, there was a flash of light, and Mark could see black, tousled hair tucked under a conductor's hat, black eyes, and a cold hand held out to him. Mark thought for two seconds and grabbed the man's hand as everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter three will come out soon!


	5. Three: Kun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the five drive around the city, Winwin figures out where Dream was the night before, and Kun drops some essential info. They find the mall and enter it...

"I've already checked this one, and that one, and..." Yuta constantly pointed left and right as Doyoung anxiously drove the sleek, black car that weaved around the city of Seoul. "There's not a lot of malls here...are you sure they didn't shop somewhere else?"

"Winwin, any memory?" Taeyong was anxious, eyes wide.

"No, it's not coming back to me!" Winwin pouted in frustration. "I remember they told me where they were going, but nothing's hitting my mind! Why!?"

Kun was trying to figure out for himself what the hell was even going on. _One day they exist. Then they're gone. Last night, it was me, Winwin, Doyoung, Yuta, and Johnny who snuck out-so then why does Taeyong remember and not Johnny? Is that even related to our current situation? Damn it, I sound like Doyoung._

__

__

"HA! I'VE GOT IT!" Winwin pumped his fist up in the air. "I remember-it was called District Mall or something like that..."

"Well done-there's only one mall by that name." Yuta high-fived Winwin as he looked up the mall on his phone. "Wait a second-it's abandoned!?"

"But I'm not joking!" Winwin glanced over Yuta's shoulder and shook his head in disbelief. "This is some sort of large-scale prank gone out of hand, except it's not a prank and it's reality. No way. We have to get in there somehow!"

"In the middle of daylight? Are you actually serious right now?" Taeyong was trying to rationalize the idea. "We're going to get caught, get turned into jail, get kicked out of SM Entertainment, and become broke as fuck after we pay fines."

"I'm with Taeyong," Doyoung agreed. Already he was heading back towards SM Entertainment. "We should wait out until night; that way it's safer."

"But if we go now and then come back later, we won't have to waste time finding an entrance," Yuta fired back. "Besides, no one heads toward that area nowadays; we're not going to get spotted."

"If we're spotted going in there, then people will follow us in-you know saesangs," Taeyong responded. Then he sighed. "Kun, you're the tiebreaker. Should we go now or later?"

Three pairs of eyes swiveled to Kun. Doyoung was forced to keep his eyes on the road, but he constantly glanced at Kun through the rearview mirror.

"I-I..." Kun stammered awkwardly, running through all the pros and cons in his head. "I-I think we should go now. I mean...no one said that our memory of NCT Dream will last forever. What if one day we wake up and we forget who they are!? Then everything would be a waste..."

"But-"

"Taeyong, we let him choose. We should stick to our agreement." Doyoung made a U-Turn and headed the other direction. "Okay Yuta, where is it?"

\-------

"Damn, are you sure this died a long time ago?" Kun peered up at the still-working neon sign proudly displaying "DISTRICT MALL" in large letters. Yuta nodded, slightly surprised. Doyoung was already trying to find a way around the large chain and padlock that crowded the glass doors covered in dust. Taeyong, getting impatient, kicked down the door in frustration, causing a dust cloud to nearly choke everyone at the scene.

"We need to get inside quick, or else someone will find us," Doyoung whispered. "There should be a key somewhere."

"Who cares about a key!?" Kun, sick of hearing everyone's arguments, expertly karate-chopped the chain in half. The doors opened by themselves, giving him the shivers as cold air blasted outside. The abandoned mall was a refrigerator. Cautiously Yuta entered first, then Taeyong, then Doyoung, and then Winwin and Kun himself. He left the door open a crack and lazily tied the chain back together in an attempt to keep wandering people unsuspicious.

"It's freezing," Winwin muttered as Yuta grabbed a dusty map from a nearby stand. The inside of the mall seemed brand-new with dazzling glass ceilings and shiny staircases. There were still signs of abandonment though-shattered glass was scattered everywhere, the fountain was empty, and stores were dark inside with broken signs. The elevator sagged at the bottom floor, its mechanism long worn-out. Everything was lit by daylight, which was brightest at noon.

"The mall has ten districts, and they're named all after boy groups like us. We're entering from District 1 main entrance, which is the BTS district. 2 is EXO, 3 is GOT7, 4 is SHINee, 5 is Super Junior, 6 is BigBang, 7 is NCT, 8 is TARGET, 9 is Stray Kids, and 10 is Wanna One. Each district is its on separate building, and you have to take an underground train to get from one district to another quickly. Walking to each one takes about an hour and a half, which we don't have enough time for. If we keep going straight, there's a large border for the next district and vice-versa. Overall, this mall is just EXTREMELY big and may take days for us to go search." Yuta gave a basic summary of what was written all over the brochure.

"We should split into a pair and a trio." Kun looked around, then nodded. "Winwin and Yuta together, and I'll go with Taeyong and Doyoung."

Yuta didn't object and gave Kun a grateful look-he was going to ask to be with Winwin, but it didn't seem necessary. Taeyong and Doyoung, on the other hand, were surprised. Before anyone could really say a word, however, Kun pushed them both in separate directions, and they went on their merry way.

"Make sure your phone is fully charged and have a map on you at all times!" Taeyong screamed into the other side of the mall where Winwin and Yuta had just disappeared.

"Smart; now we won't die from a stupid moment like in horror movies and fanfictions," Doyoung approved.

Kun was appalled. "You read _fanfiction!?"_

__

__

"What's wrong with that?" Doyoung looked at them all confused before realizing what was going on in Taeyong and Kun's heads. "Aww hell nah, I don't read smut. No. Plain no. Especially about us. We're real people for goodness sake." He waved his hands and turned to the direction of the long corridor. "Ready to go?"

"Who said I wasn't?" Taeyong commented as they disappeared into the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Different POV, and plot twist?


	6. Four: Johnny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back at the dorms, Johnny manages to break through the amnesia.

"Where did Taeyong, Doyoung, Winwin, Kun, and Yuta go?" Taeil paced the very-empty 127 dorm. Since the leaving of those five, the dorm only had Johnny, Taeil, and Jaehyun in it. The U dorm was doing...whatever they were doing. Johnny felt that he was forgetting another sub-unit, but he couldn't place his finger on it.

"Hey Johnny, where were you last night?" Taeil looked at him. "You snuck out the window; I saw you..."

Johnny suddenly felt a pain coming to his head. Where had he been? Looking for someone, right? _Wasn't everyone present that night? No...that's not right. There's something off, isn't there? So why can't I remember?_

__

__

Jaehyun glanced at Johnny worriedly. "NCT Dream, that's who they mentioned, right?"

"Wait a second... NCT Dream?" Johnny shook his head, utterly confused, not knowing what to believe anymore. Taeil and Jaehyun were doing their own thing, cleaning up after the missing four members. Johnny clutched his head in pain, trying to remember, sitting in a chair at the table. The memory of the night before was coming to him.

_They said that NCT Dream was missing-including some Mark or Haechan dude...who were they again? We had a third sub-unit, they went shopping last night, disappeared, and were searched for. I was searching as well and I was the last one, but I don't remember a thing. Taeyong didn't search, but he remembers. Is this some sort of exchange, or...wait._ Johnny paused his train of thought. Just for a moment, a memory surfaced from the dark part of his mind. Without hesitation, he latched for it, refusing to let it sink back into the unknown. The world around him seemed to speed up and turn crystal-clear and sharp, like some barrier had been...broken. 

__

__

_Mark? Mark Lee? Foreign swaggers...now that I think about it, there was another member in that promotion video, wasn't there? The one who said he sucked at presentations. More memories began flooding his mind like an avalanche, threatening to make him pass out._

__

__

_Haechan was the one with the unique vocals, right? Lee...Lee Donghyuck or something like that... As Johnny continued thinking more, memories started emerging in his mind, pieces slowly coming together. After those two came the rest of NCT Dream, and he fell from the chair, shocked. NCT Dream's missing, and two-thirds of NCT don't remember them at all! How come I forgot at first!? Did something happen? I thought I heard the sound of something shattering, and a voice cursing..._

__

__

"Johnny, are you okay!?" Ten burst through the door, having heard the chair slam to the floor from a mile away. "What happened!?"

"Mark, Haechan, Renjun, Jaemin, Jeno, Chenle, Jisung..." Johnny continued muttering off their names, trying to make them stick into his head. Once he was sure they would be stuck in his head all day, he turned to Ten. "Ten!" He shook his friend's shoulder anxiously. "NCT Dream; can't you remember them? Please, try to remember them...I don't know what's making us go like this, but you have to try..."

Ten shook his head. "Are you crazy? Taeyong, Winwin, Yuta, Kun, and Doyoung are nuts. They're going way too far, going to a mall-chase like that."

"I need to follow them!" Johnny raced for the door, but was thrown back by an invisible force. He tried again. Once again he was thrown back to the floor. He rushed to the window, but he couldn't even stick his hand out. In fear, he tried to jump out and hit the floor hard. Ten hovered over him worriedly. "Johnny, calm down!"

"WHY CAN'T I GET OUT!?" Johnny slammed his fist on the carpet in frustration. He whipped out his phone and sent a quick text to Taeyong, thankful a signal was still working.

johnny_seo: NCT Dream is the underage group, isn't it? I remember now. Please respond ASAP!

Nothing popped up. The message sent, but Taeyong didn't even respond. Johnny nearly threw his phone in frustration as Ten propped him up to his feet. He tried to test a theory as he opened the door and motioned Johnny toward it, but Johnny already knew that he wouldn't be able to escape. Taeil and Jaehyun were there now, nervous.

**I made sure you can't help them. This is for them and them only.** A voice rang through Johnny's head, making him want to faint right there and then. He couldn't place where the voice came from, but he knew who it was. It was clearly the kidnapper of NCT Dream. On top of that...

His phone rang. Urgently, Johnny picked it up to hear Taeyong's voice on the other end. In the background noise, he could vaguely hear Doyoung and Kun talking with one another.

"Give me a rundown of NCT Dream." Taeyong's voice was cold.

"Mark Lee, foreign swagger, in all sub-units, dyes his hair a lot, unique rap style, songwriter." Johnny started off from oldest going to youngest. "Huang Renjun, chinese, moomin lover, singer, as if it's your last dancer. Lee Jeno, eye smile, everyone loves him, and...erm...next person. Lee....Donghyuck-Haechan, sorry. In 127 as well, unique vocals. Na Jaemin, was on hiatus, slayed Chewing Gum and GO, also Nana according to Lucas. Zhong Chenle, smiles all the time, chinese, walking meme, star ever since he was young. Park Jisung, aka Pwark Jisung, youngest, maknae, large hands and feet, savage...yeah, that's all I can get from the top of my head."

"Can you come over to District Mall?" Taeyong's voice seemed to soften.

"I thought District Mall was abandoned..." Johnny's memories were clashing within one another, all of them making no sense. "Besides, I have a bit of an issue. I can't get out."

"Why?" Doyoung's voice suddenly overpowered Taeyong's, yelling into the reciever so hard that Johnny nearly dropped the phone in surprise.

"There's some sort of invisible barrier, and a voice speaking in my head telling me I can't go anywhere...I'm literally on dorm arrest. Maybe you can do something about it?"

"Does anyone else remember other than you?" asked Taeyong.

"Nope; I've been trying to convince the rest but no luck."

"Then just try to stick with your memories as best as you can." To Taeyong, Doyoung, and Johnny's surprise, Ten began speaking. "I know what you're saying is...somewhat true. I don't know if we have a third sub-unit. I don't even know who the heck you guys are all talking about...but no matter what, I'm on your side Johnny. I'll try to find a way out of this 'invisible barrier' mess, and allow you to go back outside again."

Johnny lunged for Ten, nearly crushing him in a hug as a tear went down his cheek. "Thank you so much, Ten!"

"We're about to lose connection, so we won't be able to contact you until we get out of this mall, which..." Taeyong's voice seemed to crack a little. "-may be never. Love you guys. If we don't make it out...tell everyone...I loved them all."

"Taeyong? Doyoung? WAIT!" Johnny screamed into the reciever, nearly choking Ten.

There was only static.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: DREAM CHAPTER: RENJUN. To all older readers, you may want to check Prologue notes to get info on them.


	7. Renjun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 2/7 of the NCT Dream Chapters. This one is slightly longer than Mark's!

As I open my eyes, I'm a hero but still in a maze, keep secretly secretly getting covered in bruises...

(((((;___▲___))(((((;___▲___))((￣▼￣ ;)))))

They sat in a circle around a rectangular table, with one platform raised above the rest. In front of them were glitchy computers. Everyone sat with a partner at each computer, except for Haechan, who was sitting at the raised platform by himself. There was a door, but it was locked from the inside. Lightbulbs barely lit up the room and were constantly flickering. The walls were pitch-black.

The door swung open. Everyone turned in their seats. There was the mussy-haired man with his conductor's hat, waving to them all. Then he pushed Mark inside.

"Mark!" The Dream group cried out in relief. Mark rushed over and hugged them each individually, then took a seat next to Jaemin-the only remaining seat.

Right when he did, the room started rumbling. In fear, Renjun grabbed onto his chair as the ground opened up below them and they fell, screaming into the darkness.

"OHMYFUCKINGGODNOTTHISAGAINIHATEMYLIFESOMEONEHELPME!!!!!!!!" Jisung was the first to disappear from Renjun's point of view. Jaemin was next, still cursing at Renjun, who raised his eyebrows in confusion. Why were they yelling at him? Then he looked up. His chair had been tied to glass poles around the room, leaving him hovering in front of a large black hole.

Jeno was clinging onto the edge of the hole, tears streaming down his face in effort. Haechan had jumped away and was on the side, free-except for the fact that the remaining perches of land were separated from one another. The room had seemed to expand, making it impossible for Haechan to get to another side. Mark was threatening to snap Renjun's lines by the way he was holding onto one of the lines so tightly. Renjun was praying to God that everything would be okay.

"Jaemin...Jisung...we have to go after them!" Haechan peered down into the darkness.

"You expect me to move from this chair!? Are you crazy!?" Renjun motioned at himself.

The door swung open, and the conductor-man was back. He glanced around the room, and rolled his eyes. "Jeno, you need to start working out more." With a flick of his hand, Jeno suddenly flew into the air and was back on another perch of land. Everyone's heads turned toward him in surprise, but he shrugged and flicked his hand. Renjun felt his back slam against a wall while Mark flew to the remaining part of land.

"Ya'll stay put for now." He rolled his eyes again. "Clearly that was a malfunction...I'll have to talk to Felix about it...that clumsy asshole," he muttered to himself as the door shut on them.

"What about Jaemin and Jisung!?" cried Mark.

 _No, not that Mark,_ Renjun thought. _Felix? JYP? Hold up...no way. This can't be. This can't..._ Then he saw it on his glass pole. The familiar group name.

Stray Kids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'ALL ARE WONDERING WHERE CHENLE IS. He's not in this room. You'll see in the next Dream Chapter, which is Jeno's.


	8. Five: Yuta

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuta and Winwin get closer to the answer of the mystery behind the disappearances. As they do so, some romance ensues...

"The service is down," Winwin complained as he shut off his phone to preserve battery. "What are we even looking for?"

"Where the heck NCT Dream went-that could end up taking days," Yuta replied worriedly.

He turned to Winwin, seeing his brow furrow in deep thought. For the past two years, he had been smothering him, trying to give him a hint-even going so far to show such confidence in public. Yet however, Winwin still was as dense as ever. Yuta just wanted his unrequited love to be returned. He sighed again, turning away to face his brochure as a tear escaped his eye.

"So what? We can just camp out in each district," Winwin replied.

"It's not-" Yuta ran a hand through his hair, stressed. "How far did they even go in?"

"I don't know, I think all the way to District 9 if I'm not mistaken," Winwin remembered.

"AND WE'RE ONLY IN DISTRICT ONE, especially since this is the biggest one! How do we-"

"Well, they never said they were going back out through District 1, did they? How about we just skip straight to District 9 and start from there?"

"Good idea," Yuta congratulated. "Let's beat the others to it, then."

\------

"Well, we're here now," Yuta replied, staring up at the large neon "DISTRICT 9" on top of their heads. "It's rather small, so we can easily split. After all, the districts are sized by the amount of money they have earned. Stray Kids is still relatively small, so their district isn't that big compared to EXO or BTS."

"True, true." Winwin made a 360 as he glanced around the small shopping area. District 9 was mostly food, with the occasional shopping store here and there. Now, in its abandoned state, it was dilapidated and worn down. The store signs had all been taken down. Stains of food sauce were all over upside-down tables and chairs. Trash and debris were littered everywhere. A patch of floor was missing, revealing the sticky glue underneath. Light wasn't very bright here-there was about one sky window that was darkening slowly as the sun began to set. Time was running out for them.

"Wonder where Doyoung, Kun, and Taeyong are." Yuta stroked his chin thoughtfully as he glanced at shops, looking for food. There was a pretzel machine sitting atop of a counter, steam wafting from it. Inside were two cinnamon pretzels, making Yuta's stomach growl. "Food!"

"Are you sure it's not expired-" Winwin was interrupted by Yuta pushing him aside and grabbing the two pretzels. He placed one in a plastic bag and shoved it into the duffel bag that he had brought with him. "Let's split this in half," he suggested, ready to tear the thing apart.

"That's not necessary, Yuta," Winwin replied as he begrudgingly tore a small piece and ate it. "Hey, this is good!"

"There's nothing better than pretzels when you're hunting for lost people," Yuta added as he straight chomped off the side of the pretzel. "We shouldn't be resting, but-"

"It's fine!" Winwin suddenly cut him off, smiling. "Besides, I like it more when we're alone," he muttered.

"What?" Yuta turned to Winwin in surprise, half-chewed pretzel still in his mouth as he spoke. Winwin flushed beet-red and turned away.

 _Oh, I see how it is._ Yuta grinned as he threw an arm around Winwin's shoulder to keep him from escaping. "So, you have a crush on me, huh?"

"Way to jump to conclusions, Yuta," Winwin replied sarcastically. "Let's hurry up and find the Dreamies before night comes."

"We don't have to hurry." At this, Winwin became so red that Yuta thought he was about to explode. "Oh, not like that. I just packed some extra stuff in case we had to stay over the night. I don't think Taeyong, Doyoung or Kun have anything though...whoops."

Winwin laughed, making Yuta reveal his heavenly smile as he enjoyed the younger's company. He knew at that moment that it would be a long, long night.

\------  
"It's dark outside," Winwin sad thoughtfully as he stared up at the sky window. For comfort, the two had set up sleeping bags right under the window. It made them feel less cooped up and trapped. The night was clear. Yuta checked his watch. 10:30 PM. It had only been five hours, four of them scavenging for resources and desperately trying to get a signal, one of them being huddled up together before finally deciding to stay the night.

"Guess we're criminals now," Yuta sighed. "Everyone back at SM is going to kill us when we return, so we might as well stay in here. We're probably being searched for at the moment as well. Hopefully NCT won't say a thing..." He glanced back at Winwin, at his beautiful features and his lost gaze. "Aren't you scared?"

"I have you," Winwin brightened. "You're strong and powerful and will protect me, right?"

"Of course!" Yuta back-hugged the younger as he smiled to himself, coming to a realization. "We're...friends, after all." The words stabbed him in the heart, but he kept smiling anyway.

"Friends?" Winwin suddenly became even more quiet.

"Umm...yes?" Yuta was confused and lost.

Winwin turned around to face him, showing Yuta how close his face was-a mere 3 inches at most. Yuta began to panic internally, realizing the amount of possibilities that could happen. _Holy fucking shit is Winwin going to kiss me will he turn away or what I don't know what to do Jisoos save me fuck fuck fuck fuck_ -His brain stopped working as Winwin softly put his lips onto his.

All Yuta could think of at the moment was _Yuta.exe has stopped working due to a physical sign of affection_ as Winwin kept his lips locked onto his. On sheer instinct, he pushed Winwin away, breathing hard and with his face scarlet.

"You...don't love me?" Winwin's aegyo was too much for Yuta. _Control yourself control yourself control yourself_ \- "It's okay, I understand."

"No. No, you don't, Sicheng. You don't understand how much I fucking love you. I just want to hold you tight forever and keep you under my watch and make sure no one lays a hand on you other than me, and I just wanted you to love me back but now I'm so confused I don't know what to do and I..." Yuta began to break down, the tears coming out in a torrent of saltwater.

"Yuta, shh, it's okay, I'm right here." Winwin gave the older a hug as he began to cry a little too. "You can protect me, but for now, I'll be your guardian angel. I'll stick by you, no matter what happens. Even if you tear me down and betray me, I'll stay by your side forever. So don't worry, because I'll always be here." Winwin kissed his cheek and held the sobbing Yuta tightly as he lifted a hand for a promise. "Pinkie-promise?"

Yuta looked up to Winwin, he himself a sobbing wet mess. Oh, why did he have to be like this in front of his crush? "Pinkie-promise," he echoed, though he knew that once Winwin truly understood the reality of the situation they were in, whatever they were was probably going to be strained. _I hope you're as strong as you say, Sicheng..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DAS RIGHT GUYS I USED WINWINS REAL NAME YEE-
> 
> Anyway, this was my first time writing out a kiss scene. I thought of including tongues but then the thought made me super uncomfortable so-yeah. This seems to be focused more on Winwin but trust me, its Yuta. So here's a little Yuwin for y'all. Expect other ships as well. Another one will pop up next chapter.
> 
> Also, Yuta is submissive!? SURPRISE
> 
> Next Chapter: The POV switches back to the NCT dorms.


	9. Six: Jungwoo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back at the dorms, the NCT members freak out over the five's disappearance. However, Jungwoo doesn't seem to care...

The dorms were bustling with activity as their manager ran about, freaking out. "We can't let the public know they're missing. Never."

"Manager-ssi, calm down," Ten begged.

"How can I calm down in a situation like this!? Taeyong, Doyoung, Yuta, Winwin, and Kun haven't returned when they were supposed to! Also, where the hell is Johnny!? Why isn't he coming down?" Ten froze at this, knowing why Johnny hadn't appeared.

To be honest, none of the remaining members really knew what was going on-except for Ten. They had all been chilling in the front lobby, when Ten appeared, saying he was going to go out to get some snacks. As the other members were listing what they wanted, their manager had came out from another room, looking rather stressed out. Then all of this began happening.

To be truthfully honest, Jungwoo didn't care. Yes, he was supposed to keep up that soft side of his, being a "little squish" and using a calm, kind voice whenever the others were around. However, he didn't have to pretend for Lucas. Lucas trusted him and believed in him. Lucas was a true friend and the one he was closest with. When he was with Lucas, he could be as loud and as rowdy and cruel as he wanted. And Lucas would encourage him to come out, to be truthful and honest to the other members. But Jungwoo liked it better this way. Jungwoo enjoyed pretending and manipulating others. Some would say he was a masochist, or a psycho. Jungwoo absorbed all of their sayings without denial.

So when Ten began to suddenly act weird that day, Jungwoo had a feeling something was up. So he had went to the door of the 127 room where Ten had heard Johnny screaming his head off and put his ear to the slick wood that separated the hallway from the dorm. He had heard everything. How Johnny had remembered NCT Dream, how he was trying to convince Ten, and how he couldn't step a foot out the doors or windows. After he heard what Ten said to Johnny about believing him, he returned to the U dorm, telling Lucas everything that he had heard.

Then Lucas dropped a bomb on him. Lucas had already knew everything beforehand. Lucas knew about NCT Dream, who they were, and what had happened to them. In fact, Lucas was the one who had dropped them into the 'cracks of reality', or what he called "Hole to Nowhere" (HTN for short). He was in control of the HTN and he had the power to warp it according to his will. With his powers, he restored Jungwoo's memory of NCT Dream, and then begged him to help Lucas carry out his plan. Jungwoo, seeing no reason why not to, accepted.

So now Jungwoo was one of the "villains"-or did he see himself as that? He didn't have a tragic childhood or anything like that. So why was he doing all of this? 

Apathy. That was the answer. He had no care for the world and what happened to it. Because of his ignorance, he went down this path in life. And he didn't have any regrets or doubts about whatever the hell he was doing. Simply because he didn't care.

"What are you going to do next?" He whispered to Lucas so lowly that Lucas almost didn't hear him. "You've already got Stray Kids to sacrifice their humanity to help you, and you're leading those five into a trap. I've trapped Johnny in his room for you."

"Shh, not now," Lucas responded back, his lips brushing against Jungwoo's neck. Feeling both attacked and aroused, Jungwoo retreated from the presence awkwardly feeling the side of his neck. _Did Lucas really just do that?_

Lucas just smirked back at him.

When they had finally been dismissed from the lobby, Lucas and Jungwoo climbed onto Lucas' bed, laying side to side as they had already locked the door to their room and had placed the "DO NOT DISTURB" sign on the doorknob. The lights were off, making the assumption that the two were already asleep. Because of the loss of the five members, all NCT activities had been cancelled for the next week. This gave them time to reflect on their current plan.

"Hey, Lucas? Why did you let Taeyong remember instead of Johnny? And how did Johnny get his memory back?" Jungwoo was suddenly curious.

Doyoung had been chosen because of his ability to immediately figure out when something was off-which Lucas planned to use to his advantage. Kun had been chosen because of his little attention to the world-with little lines and screentime, he would easily fade into the shadows. Winwin had been chosen for his softness and inability to cope with horror-being down in the HTN would scar him for life, which Lucas wanted. Yuta...Yuta was there because of Winwin. At least, that was what Lucas had told Jungwoo. But Jungwoo felt that Lucas hadn't been telling the entire truth. Something was off about the reasons why. But he didn't know what.

"Taeyong was chosen for a multitude of reasons." Lucas broke Jungwoo out of his thoughts. "He's the leader of NCT 127 so I can tear them apart. He's so well-known, but so am I, and after he disappears I can get all the attention. As for Johnny, he saw something he wasn't supposed to see-he saw the spirits that gave us powers. Letting him remember would ruin everything. Also, not many people like him, so I'll stand out even more.

"As for him getting his memory back, I didn't do that," Lucas muttered under his breath, causing Jungwoo to widen his eyes. "Someone is interfering with my plans, and I don't know who."

"It's not me," Jungwoo immediately said, throwing his hands up in surrender.

"I know it's not you-" Lucas was cut off as they both heard the noise of feet pattering from the door. "Someone's eavesdropping on us, aren't they?"

"It's okay, Lucas." Jungwoo rose from the bed, a red glint in his eyes. "I'll track him down and make sure he never sees the face of the earth again." He didn't even need to think twice to know who it was.

_Ten._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: DREAM CHAPTER FOR JENO!


	10. Jeno

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The identity of the kidnappers are found, and the dreamies try to sort out their next move.

_"Iced up both my wrists, now I can barely see the time..."_

(°o°)(°o。)(。o。)(。o°)(°o°)(°o。)(。o。)(。o°)

Jeno stood anxiously on the platform, glancing around at the other four platforms. There was Haechan, standing to his left. Mark was across, with Renjun on the right. Jaemin and Jisung were still...wherever the hell they were. And where had Chenle been this entire time? The conductor guy, most likely a member of Stray Kids (as Renjun had pointed out), hadn't returned for five minutes and he was already getting restless.

"Where the hell is Chenle? Why didn't they bring him in with us?" Haechan glanced resentfully at the closed door, far away from them.

"More like where ARE we in the first place anyway? I wake up in a totally dark room, get dragged by Conductor dude, and end up in this room with the rest of y'all. I haven't seen Chenle since he fell through the hole." Mark crossed his arms and paced his platform worriedly.

Before the rest of them could respond, the door opened again and Conductor guy poked his head in. "Okay, I think I got Felix to fix it. Come along now." Jeno felt a slight tug on his gut and blinked to find himself in another dark hallway, with the other four right behind him, away from the room. Conductor dude was right in front of him, making him nervous. He had no choice but to walk forward and follow him.

Soon they made a right and walked into a dimly lit station, where there were seven other men in conductor suits. They stood in a line, some chatting to each other, others looking back and forth to check...were those subway tracks? Jeno squinted to see the railing, but Conductor guy's power forced his chin up to look back at the seven.

"Hello NCT Dream. I'm Bang Chan, or Chan." Conductor guy took off his hat to reveal the tousled hair and recognizable facial features. Mark nearly choked on air, and Jeno blinked in shock. The Stray Kids Bang Chan was this guy!?

"I'm Woojin," said the first in line, his buttons slightly undone and his smile hauntingly empty. "Over here in order is Minho, Changbin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, and Hyunjin..." A look of confusion crossed his face as he squinted more closely. "Where's Jeongin?"

"Oh, he's taking care of the other one." Chan waved his hand just as another man appeared from the end of the station, near an escalator. Sweat dripped down his face and a bright, joyful smile that was once there disappeared quickly. His hand pulled out a stumbling Chenle.

"Chenle!" Renjun almost moved from his spot, but found he was planted to the ground. "What the fu-"

"Oh yeah, you're stuck in place for now. You need to listen." Chan waved his hand dismissively and Jeno shot down a glare behind his back. "Jeongin! Hurry up!"

"Sorry I'm late! Took some time to get him sedated." The new guy, apparently Jeongin, scratched the back of his head sheepishly as a dull-eyed Chenle slowly stepped forward behind him. "His mind was tough, but I got it to work."

One of the other guys ( _Minho_ , Jeno thought) stepped forward, running hands under each of the members' chins. "This is what you're all going to be within the next thirty minutes. Just like him. Sorry in advance, it's orders." He smirked.

"Orders? From Chan or someone else?" Mark's eyes peered around.

"Oh, well if we told you then the whole purpose of kidnapping you would be defeated." Han gave them a creepy smile, causing Jeno to back up slightly. Then he realized. "RUN!"

Renjun understood immediately and tried to move away, only to fall flat on his face. Seungmin stifled a cruel laugh as Mark nearly slipped on nothing, Haechan barely catching him. Jeno's arms were quickly grabbed by Changbin and Felix. "Let me go!"

"Why should we? No need," Changbin growled.

Jeongin's eyes darted around, taking in the surroundings before jumping in Changbin, Felix, and Jeno. "Guys, let me take them."

Seungmin narrowed his eyes. "Why should you? You're the lowest out of all of us. Hell, you're even the same age as Chenle!" He laughed and Jeongin clenched his fists in anger.

"You're the same age as half of them too! Don't go around accusing me. Let me prove myself, please!" Jeongin's eyes shone with what seemed to be tears.

Seungmin opened his mouth to speak, but Chan butted in. "Go ahead," he said to Jeongin, with a glare at Seungmin. Jeongin looked incredibly thankful, while Seungmin looked miffed. Felix and Changbin let go of Jeno wordlessly, and Renjun was harshly pulled up by Han. "Get a move on before I change my mind."

The Dreamies didn't dare fight back as Hyunjin cuffed them together in a chain to Jeongin, and they began moving once again into the darkness of the subway tunnel, toward a down escalator. Jeno was in front, so he got the best view and tried his best to take in and memorize his surroundings. The up escalator and down escalator were right next to each other, while the subway tracks ran both ways with a small platform in the middle. The darkness loomed ahead, and the subway was dimly lit and seemed to also be slightly run-down. Paint and tile were chipping from the walls. Where they had been with the other members in the other direction was more light, another staircase leading above out where the gates stood with the metal-rotating bars, and an officer's small office.

"Hurry along now," Jeongin muttered, also pushing along the sedated Chenle alongside him. Jeno braced himself, knowing that when the time came he needed all his strength to fight back.

They made a sharp left down the down escalator into the same hallway where Chan had gotten them from. This time, however, they made a right before the door at the end where they had originally came from. This hallway had all the fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling, and the dreamies weaved their heads to avoid an electric shock. Finally, they entered a totally white room with nothing else inside but the door they came from and another door right across. Jeongin went in last, closing the door behind him. His eyes glanced around quickly, then he seemed to relax.

"Okay, you can stop acting now," he said.

Chenle blinked and grinned at Jeongin. "Was I good enough?"

"WHAT-" Haechan stumbled. "How did-"

"I'm on your side," Jeongin blurted out. "The rest of my members — they came down here by this other guy, I forgot his name, he was in NCT though, and he hired us to take you guys away but—but he did something to them, he twisted their brains or possessed them or took their souls or whatever, and I fought back, and I'm still fighting, and I wanna get out of here." The speed at which he was speaking qualified him to become a rapper.

Jeno felt terrible and bad for Jeongin. The poor guy was around the same age as them, and yet he was already going through this much. Without realizing, he spoke. "Join us and get out of here."

Jeongin nodded. "That's what I'm going to do. I've been planning escape for a long time now. We need to get out together." Then he wrinkled his brow. "But there's a problem."

"What is it?" Mark asked.

"Jaemin and Jisung, your friends." Jeongin looked grimly at the door they hadn't entered through. "They're right behind that door, and sedated."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG i am so SORRY for not updating!!!! I finally got this chappie done, thank you for bearing with meh. next chapter: jaehyun focus.


	11. Seven: Jaehyun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While relaxing, Jaehyun ends up tangling himself into a nasty mess.

Jaehyun had been trying to get some sleep, sprawled out on the couch in the 127 dorm, but was immediately awoken by a loud bang from the door. It was Ten, face flushed and panting, sweat dripping from his neck and eyes wide with fear. At once Jaehyun stumbled to his feet, hobbling over to Ten in a disoriented state.

"Ten-hyung, what the fuck—"

"Help me out the window," he gasped, shutting the door behind him and rushing toward the window at the far end of the dorm room, swinging it open. Jaehyun shivered from the sudden cold gust as he did his best to stagger over to the other side. "What the hell is going on?"

"I'll text you later," Ten said, slipping his short legs over the side of the window. Jaehyun, now wide awake and still trying to get ahold of what was happening, held Ten's arms tightly as the older slipped his other leg over. He dropped a couple of inches, putting sudden strain on Jaehyun's arms. Jaehyun gasped as a loud knocking came from the door. Ten glanced up to Jaehyun. "Let me go now!"

The knocking became louder.

Ten slapped Jaehyun's unresponsive wrist harshly, causing him to groan in pain and drop him. Jaehyun immediately retracted his arm and peered outside, but Ten was now in the shadows, nowhere to be seen.

The door burst open and Jaehyun hastily pulled his head in and turned as Jungwoo stood in the doorway, a glare quickly morphing into a confused look. "Jaehyun?"

"Y-yeah? What's up?" Jaehyun bit his lip and awkwardly smiled, trying to keep his cool.

"Did you see Ten?" Jungwoo smiled, and Jaehyun felt his muscles relaxing, his mind going blank, his worry and tension fading away as his smile made him feel much more at ease, so willing to tell anything to his best friend— _what the fuck!? What was that!?_ Jaehyun shook his head to get rid of the spell, blinking as he squinted at Jungwoo again. He was still smiling, but it now seemed more haunted, more hollow and empty than he had realized. Stepping closer, Jaehyun noticed the dark circles under his eyes, and the stretch of his lips, making his smile seem even more unnatural.

"N-No." _What the hell am I saying!? Why am I lying to him?_

Jungwoo's smile turned into a frown. "Huh. That's weird. I could've sworn I saw him running down this hallway," he muttered to himself, Jaehyun barely catching the words "son of a bitch" under his tongue. Jaehyun pursed his lips tightly, confusion crossing his face. _Jungwoo normally doesn't curse..._ "Anyway, why's your window open so late?"

"O-oh. The 127 dorm was a l-little cramped, and I just wanted to have some fresh air," Jaehyun blabbered, not having a clue what he was doing.

"But the majority of the members aren't even here right now—you know, Taeyong, Doyoung, Yuta, Winwin, Mark, Haechan—shit." Jungwoo covered his mouth and Jaehyun narrowed his eyes.

"What is UP with you and this 'Mark' and 'Haechan' guy and what the fuck does that have to do with anything? Why are you acting so weird all of a sudden? Why are you up so late!? What's gotten into you!? As your hyung, I have a right to know," Jaehyun hissed, his brain done with all the mess that had been happening the past day.

"You should be asking that to yourself, Jaehyun- _hyung._ " Jungwoo put a load of sarcasm in the "hyung", glaring back at Jaehyun. "You're hiding something, aren't you?"

"You're not in a position to accuse," Jaehyun fired back. _Why am I even saying these things? Did Ten piss off Jungwoo or something?_ Right at that moment, his phone buzzed and he fished it out, squirming uncomfortably under Jungwoo's cold gaze as he unlocked his phone to see Ten's text message:

**chitaprrrrrrrrrrr** : yah, is jungwoo in the dorm already

"Who's texting?" Jungwoo took a step closer, but Jaehyun raised a hand to stop him.

"It's my sister..." Jaehyun felt guilt wash over him as the lie easily slipped out of his mouth, the words almost tasting bitter on his tongue.

**jaehyunnie:** ye, why

**chitaprrrrrrrrrrr:** get him outta there.

**jaehyunnie:** why tho

**chitaprrrrrrrrrrr:** it's not safe to be near him

**jaehyunnie:** i don't get it???11?1 explain

**chitaprrrrrrrrrrr:** he's talking to you rn isnt he

**jaehyunnie:** he's staring at me

**chitaprrrrrrrrrrr:** watever, just get him out

**jaehyunnie:** Σ(￣ロ￣lll) fine

"Are you done yet?" Jungwoo's voice softened.

"Y-yeah, it was just some important business." Jaehyun forced a smile. "You should get some sleep Jungwoo, there's bags under your eyes."

Jungwoo looked as if he wanted to argue, but something seemed to deflate in him and he nodded somewhat. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry hyung, I've just been really stressed lately, with five of our members gone."

Jaehyun almost reached in for a hug, but then remembered the phone in his back pocket. _What if he steals it?_ "It's okay. Go get some rest."

Jungwoo turned and closed the door softly behind him. Jaehyun waited a couple of seconds, listening to Jungwoo's fading footsteps before looking back to the window and peering down. Ten was still M.I.A. "When will that guy respond, jisoos." Jaehyun closed the window and went back to his bedroom, now feeling empty without his roommate's presence. His eyes flittered slightly before his muscles finally relaxed for real and he fell asleep on the bed.

———

"Morning Jaehyun." Johnny greeted the younger from the kitchen, making breakfast (aka Frosted Flakes). His cheerful demeanor almost made the younger forget what Johnny had been doing the day before, throwing himself at windows and doors. At first, Jaehyun thought he had been playing a prank. But there also seemed to be some other presence weighing Johnny down whenever he got close to the door or a window, forcing him to stay inside. Jaehyun slid into a seat and ran fingers through his hair.

"Did Taeyong or any of them come back yet?" Jaehyun asked as Johnny placed a bowl of cereal in front of him before sitting down himself.

The bright smile on Johnny's face fell. "No," he muttered quietly. "The CEO released a statement last night, and police are on the search."

"Didn't you call them yesterday?" Jaehyun furrowed his eyebrows in thought as he intensely took a bite of his cereal.

"...I lied to the CEO." At this, Jaehyun nearly spat out all of his milk. " _What!?_ "

"Yep. He wouldn't believe me anyway even if I had told him; he never listens to me." Johnny waved a hand off casually, but something about his facial expression felt off. Maybe Johnny really was more sensitive about his lack of lines and screentime after having trained for nearly ten years. "Besides, they're searching for NCT Dream. No one remembers NCT Dream." Before Jaehyun could complain, Johnny continued. "Even you don't remember. If one of our own members can't remember, how would you expect the rest of the world to remember?"

Jaehyun grew quiet. "What are you gonna do, Johnny?"

"Easy. Keep Ten off the grid." Johnny's eyes darted toward the window where Ten had gone through. _Had he been watching last night?_ "He knows something the kidnappers don't want him to know. I don't know what it is, but whatever it was it put him in really grave danger. He's my best friend. I'll do anything to protect him." His eyes met Jaehyun's bright ones, so tense and focused. "Jaehyun, you helped him out last night, didn't you?"

"I-I...." Jaehyun averted his gaze. "Yeah..." He didn't trust Jungwoo, and he didn't know why. But he did trust Johnny. Something in his gut was just telling him...

"Wait—the voice is back." Johnny froze, dropping his spoon back into his bowl of cereal. He looked up, concentrating. When he looked back down, his face was much more pale.

"What!? What is it?" Jaehyun immediately placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.

Johnny swallowed before looking at Jaehyun. "You and Taeil. There _is_ a reason why you guys don't remember." He turned toward the door in remorse. "Jaehyun. Get packing now."

"Huh? Why?" Jaehyun stood up and brought his empty bowl to the sink, but Johnny waved him away.

"You need to follow them."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating, I almost forgot AO3 existed...  
> Next chapter: Taeil focus FOR SURE.


	12. Eight: Sicheng

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new day starts in the mall, and the five continue their search before finally finding the truth.

Sunlight streamed through the one sky-window above them, hitting Sicheng's face and nearly blinding him. Rubbing his eyes he sat up, adjusting to his surroundings. Stretching he turned to see Yuta still fast asleep next to him, one hand clinging to Sicheng's shirt. A small smile crossed his face at the Japanese prince before he lowered his head and whispered a soft "Good morning" in Yuta's ear.

The older male scrunched up his nose before getting up and smiling his "healing smile" at Sicheng. "Morning."

For a moment, both forgot they were in an abandoned mall, considered missing and on the search for seven missing NCT members. Then Sicheng broke the fantasy. "We have to continue."

Before Yuta could respond shouts of their names came from behind them. They whirled back to the entrance of District 9 to see three familiar figures.

"Yuta! Winwin!" Taeyong had his hands cupped over his mouth, desperately calling for them. Kun and Doyoung were behind them, swinging their flashlights around the dark area of District 8. 

"Taeyong!" Yuta yelled back, and the redhead's eyes darted to face Yuta and Winwin. "Oh thank god!" At once Taeyong, Doyoung and Kun rushed up to the two, grabbing them in a bone-crushing group hug. "We thought you guys were done for."

"We're okay, don't worry." Sicheng cracked a small smile.

"You guys look way more than just 'okay'." Kun was the first to pull away, eyeing the two with a glare. "Oh, I know. Did you guys get together too?"

"W-What!?" A blush spread across Sicheng's cheeks as Yuta frowned in thought. "Wait. 'Get together _too?' What the hell do you mean by too?"_

"These two got comfy. _Way_ too comfy, if you ask me." Kun pouted. Sicheng and Yuta turned to Taeyong and Doyoung—specifically, Doyoung fussing over Taeyong. As they watched, Taeyong waved his hands in an _I-couldn't-care-less motion,_ and Doyoung stomped his foot, rolling his eyes and protesting back. Before Doyoung could continue on another one of his rants, Taeyong pulled the other dangerously close and placed a finger to his lips. Doyoung, taken by surprise, blushed in spite of being angry. Kun hitched his breath, catching the attention of the two. 

"What?" Taeyong spat out, trying to hide a smile on his face as he pushed Doyoung away. 

"N-Nothing," Kun replied as Sicheng and Yuta giggled. "Let's carry on. This is District 9, I believe?"

"Mhmm. Both Sicheng and I thought that since the Dreamies went all the way to District 9, and that none of them said that they were gonna come back out through District 1, we decided to skip 2-8 and just go straight to District 9. It's really small, more like a food court if you ask me. We were gonna look around, but it got late and we got distracted, so...we just slept the rest of the night, and here we are." Yuta scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "Anything look suss to you?"

Doyoung twirled, taking in the surroundings. "One sky window? That's it?" He stepped close to the patch of missing floor. Spying a chair he picked it up and threw it at the patch of floor. It clanged against was seemed to be metal under the sticky glue and he winced. "Guess not there."

"Stores aren't giving any hints." Taeyong frowned as he peered into an old clothing store. He sighed in frustration. "God fucking damn! Why isn't there anything!?"

"There has to be something. Some evidence they left, or what." Kun frowned as he paced around the near vicinity. "They're clumsy."

Sicheng did his own exploring, going farther ahead as he came to the entrance of District 10. Unexpectedly, he took another step and tripped. Hitting the floor with a thud, the wind was knocked out of his lungs. He got to his feet, turning around in confusion. There had been nothing in his way, and he was too graceful to have tripped over thin air. Meaning he had overlooked something. But why would there be something so small in District 9?

"Yuta!" He called over the Japanese male.

Yuta came over quickly. "What's up?"

"Help me find it," Sicheng frowned as he began crawling on all fours, running his hand on the floor. Yuta, slightly confused, merely followed his lead. The two continued searching for about five minutes to find nothing. In frustration, Yuta sat back and groaned. "I can't find anything!"

"Should we just give up?" Taeyong asked warily. "We've spent more time here than any of the other districts. If there's no clues here, then we should go on."

"No, there has to be something—" Sicheng paused suddenly. His eyes widened. He moved closer until he was sure he had seen it right. Blinking twice and then rubbing his eyes he checked again. There was no doubt.

"What!? What is it!?" Doyoung bent down beside Sicheng, the other three huddling around him.

He felt the cold metal. The hinge ran all the way to the other side of the wall. It had been so small, so miniscule, that he had totally missed it. But there was no doubt that was what he had tripped over. On the other side, there was another one. Unlike the rest of the mall, the hinges seemed brand-new. He stood up shakily.

"We're standing on a trapdoor."

Almost as if on cue, one trapdoor opened—thankfully, it was the one on the other side. It fell quickly to reveal a black, inky, endless-seeming bottom with a staircase spiralling down, down, down...to hell who knew where. Sicheng peered over the edge next to the first step. "This is the only place NCT Dream could've gone."

"D-Down there!? IN THE DARK!?" Taeyong shuddered at the thought.

"Don't worry Taeyong, I'm going to be right next to you. At the very least, we can freak out together," Doyoung reassured.

"Woah woah woah, wait. So they just—fell through? And disappeared like that?" Kun frowned, trying to make sense.

"I don't know, but I'm just making an assumption." Sicheng took a hesitant step on the first step of the staircase. It held fine. "I think it's stable."

"Let's get em," Yuta determinedly proclaimed, following Sicheng into the darkness and flicking on his flashlight.

"Jisoos save us all," Taeyong prayed as he went down hand in hand with Doyoung, Kun going in last. The trapdoor didn't close on them, but the light above quickly got smaller and smaller as they descended. At the same time, a dim light came from below as ground finally came into view. Minutes still passed before they could finally get all the way to the floor.

Sicheng was the first one off the staircase, peering around curiously. There were lampposts dimly lighting the area, revealing what seemed to be a subway station platform. Two empty tracks ran in both directions next to the platform, going into darkness again both ways. Another, more elaborate staircase was across from them, leading up to a balcony above. On the balcony was an unoccupied officer station and ticket station, and multiple broken machines for tickets. Going in one direction were the check-in bars and more, blinding light. On the side of the balcony had a sign: WELCOME TO THE HOLE TO NOWHERE; STATION: 9.

"Hole to Nowhere?" Kun hopped off the last step and narrowed his eyes. "Where are we?"

"Oh, but you see, you're in Station 9 of the HTN system," said a voice. The five boys snapped to attention, suddenly alert. "Who's there!?" Doyoung whirled about, looking for the source of it.

"No need to fear me, mate," the voice replied as it appeared from the shadows, a full-grown man with curly hair squished under an old-fashioned conductor's hat. His uniform was tousled and slightly rumpled, but his smile was bright and slightly haunting. "I'm Bang Chan, leader of Stray Kids. And I think you've come too late."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woops, it should've been Taeil, lol  
> Next Chapter: DREAM CHAPTER: HAECHAN


End file.
